CB antenna mounting on a Scrambler

[headhunter]

Are you using an 18' coax? That is the perfect length to run in a vehicle. If it's a different length, do yourself a favor and go buy an 18' coax. That could make a big difference. If you already have an 18' coax, then you have two choices: Run it and don't worry about it or get an adjustable antenna. I'm using a Wilson 4' flex whip that's adjustable and works good.

http://www.palcoelectronics.com/p1003758.aspx

I am running an 18' coax.

I'm OK with getting another antenna and the Wilson 4' Flex is the one that I'd go with from everything I've read.

I just want to make sure that it's not another issue (like the ground) first or I'll probably experience the same thing with another antenna.

Thanks!

Christian

[jkcrazyjim2]

You definitely need a good ground to the antenna, otherwise your swr is going to be haywire. If your antenna is on the bracket correctly, to rule out the ground, run a ground wire to the bracket and then check your swr's. If it doesn't change, then most likely it's your antenna. There's always a chance that a cheap coax could effect your swr. That happened to a buddy of mine, put some quality coax on and the swr dropped significantly. Good luck on the quest for lower swr's!

[headhunter]

You definitely need a good ground to the antenna, otherwise your swr is going to be haywire. If your antenna is on the bracket correctly, to rule out the ground, run a ground wire to the bracket and then check your swr's. If it doesn't change, then most likely it's your antenna. There's always a chance that a cheap coax could effect your swr. That happened to a buddy of mine, put some quality coax on and the swr dropped significantly. Good luck on the quest for lower swr's!

I'm going to try to get home early enough tomorrow night to put a ground wire on it and see if that changes things.

Thanks.

Christian

[Old Fart]

Ok folks - for the 13,234th time

the 18' coax length is a MYTH.

Always has been, always will be. I really don't want to start a "war" - but there aren't any people with "RF engineer" on their business cards that will be telling you that. Some good reading:

http://www.stu-offroad.com/misc/myth-1.htm

http://www.worldwidedx.com/cb-band-c...and-radio.html

(If I had a few hours, I could crash Sarah's server with this)

Good coax, properly soldered connectors and a good ground are 90% of the radio (CB's are basically the McDonalds cheeseburger of the radio world, spend your money on the antenna and antenna feedline)

de KG6TY

[headhunter]

Well I firmly attached a ground wire from the base of the antenna to a big solid bolt on the body using a solid 14 guage copper wire and got the exact same results. I think that was a good ground and I've grounded things to the body before including the CB radio itself and everything has always worked fine.

I guess it's time to order a new antenna.

Does anyone know of a place that sells the 4' Wilson antenna somewhere near the Pasadena area?

Thanks.

Christian

[headhunter]

I found a place called The Radio Shop in Ontario, CA located at 4055 Guasti Rd. close to a Truck Stop. Their phone number is (909) 390-5056.

This was a good group of guys that had a great sense of customer service and willingness to help. Plus they put up with my sceptical, but polite questions.

It turns out that I did need a longer antenna and I bought a Firestick from them.

They had what looked to be a very expensive meter to tune an antenna and according to that we got the SWR down to between 1.2 and 1.4 across all channels.

This is where I learned that not all SWR meters are created equal.

I put the SWR meter that I bought on the system as a double check and it read around 3.5 give or take a bit. They then brought out another SWR meter similar to the one I bought at Fry's and that one said that the SWR was around 2.5.

When we adjusted the antenna from its longest to its shortest and my meter hardly changed at all. The other meter like mine changed a bit and the one that they had seemed to show quite a change throughout the adjustment.

I was there for about 45 minutes and noticed a whole lot of truckers coming in and out with lots of equipment that was being repaired by this shop and everyone seemed to be quite happy with their equipment and workmanship. This place was quite busy.

So, I decided to trust their much more expensive meter and ignore the cheap ones. We did a radio check and everything seems to be working successfully.

I'm ready to communicate on the trail! :smile:

Christian

[Kodiak Spirit]

I really wanted to push out there, so I have 36' coax, it's twice as nice... :devil:

[The-Hurricane]

36 feet of cable? where do you keep it? or is that a guage or line? im looking at putting in a cb right away too. i only need less than a mile of range because we are always close together out mud boggin.

[juz_bryan]

If your ant. is not tunable you can cut the coax to adjust the swr. 18' is just a starting point 9' will work just as well coax should be apox. in 1/4 wavelengths. 35'= 1 wavelength

[The-Hurricane]

im still not getting it, where do you keep all this line? just coiled and ziptied somewhere???

[TDS SD]

Extra Cable

Excess cable should be "stuffed" underneath the dash, under the carpet, or use some other means of hiding it. It should NOT be coiled into a nice neat roll or coil. This creates an "RF Choke" and de-tunes the antenna system, in some cases to the point of not being able to get the SWR down to an acceptable level.

[Old Fart]

If your ant. is not tunable you can cut the coax to adjust the swr. 18' is just a starting point 9' will work just as well coax should be apox. in 1/4 wavelengths. 35'= 1 wavelength

Nope.

You'd need to figure in the velocity factor of the coaxial cable AND account for attenuation and detuning factors in the connectors. You might fool the cheap SWR meter - but stop by someone who has a good one (like a slugged Bird) and you'll find out different. Or do a free field test

[Old Fart]

Excess cable should be "stuffed" underneath the dash, under the carpet, or use some other means of hiding it. It should NOT be coiled into a nice neat roll or coil. This creates an "RF Choke" and de-tunes the antenna system, in some cases to the point of not being able to get the SWR down to an acceptable level.

And here's CB Myth #2. RF chokes aren't a detuning factor (in fact - many ham stations intentionally coil coax around torroids to refuce RFI)

[Kodiak Spirit]

I'm sorry guys, I was Joking about the 32' of coax... next tyme I'll try to be even more over the top

What I do know, is that the CB shop in Hesperia by the truck wash will set up yer system for cheap, and it will work right, no B.S.

[tgregg]

I'm sorry guys, I was Joking about the 32' of coax... next tyme I'll try to be even more over the top

What I do know, is that the CB shop in Hesperia by the truck wash will set up yer system for cheap, and it will work right, no B.S.

They moved, they are in the Pilot Truck parking lot now by the Diesel pumps.